The Daycare Issue

[siege40]

Before I begin I will address a question. Siege40 wasn't always Siege40, it use to be Siege18. 18 is the date of my birthday, the 18th, and Siege came from a book I was reading in grade 4, or 5, or 6 about life in the Middle Ages. On one page was castle under siege. I really enjoyed the imagery of the siege engines, the tactics behind it, the fog

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[duchessofyork]

"It in ways reflects my disposition, defensive, introverted, cautious, strategical, dramatic, efficient and traditional." My, my Steven.

On to the hot topic, I have to say I agree with Steven, that the current program is a ridiculous waste of money and that it doesn't help anyone. My proof? My family is a "single-parent" family now, my dad works crazy hours, sometimes not coming home till eight. I have the obscene hours of an IB student, my sister is in highschool too. Reuben, the third kid, is in the French program, he has Cadets and piano and sports. Arnie is the youngest, only 6. We all go to different schools scattered across Brampton, my dad does not have a spectacular job which allows him freedom to care for all of us all the time We tried to get Arnie a place in the daycare but pursed something else of course after hearing about the long waiting lists and the fact that we weren't eligible for any financial aid. Now whenever we hear Steven Harper talk about daycare, it takes everything for my dad not to shout "if not for us, then for who?!?" and throw his shoe at the tv. It's not like we desperately needed the daycare the government offered anyway, we manage fine now sending Arnie to a babysitter who is fabulous with kids. My question is if the program is not to help families like ours, then who is it for? I don't believe that Canada has a population like that of India's under the poverty line for this daycare system to be completely tied up. This is why I think this use of tax money to fund daycare is ridiculous, it's not like the money actually reaches the people who are need of it. Nor is this program absolutely necessary and vital for living and getting along. Instead, once again I agree with Steven that the important thing is a good family life and that the middle class has the opportunity to raise their kids but choose not to. When we first came to Canada we weren't well off, there were the three of us but my mum still stayed home to care for us. We didn't struggle with money. When she got a job, she paid out of what she earned to keep Reuben at the baby sitter. With me it's simple, if you have a kid you take on the responsibility to care for it. Stay with the kid as long as you want, but after that if you leave for work, you can certainly afford to pay for the kid to go to a baby sitter.

Of course I think aid should be given to those who cannot stay home but have children, but I think that there are other options than a government funded daycare system that is internally flawed. I think they should scrap the program that have now and find another system, one that gets help where its needed and makes those who need it prove that they are indeed helpless. Because what's happening right now is my "single-parent" family is paying for another kid who may not need it, while my own brother doesn't get the benefit of this program.